Opinions on cruising yachts

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GattMLT

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I’ve been looking at buying a yacht/boat to live aboard with my wife and 2 ½ year old daughter that would take us from the Med, across the Atlantic, cruise the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and onto the Galapagos and across the pacific visiting the many charming island it has on offer with a long stop in NZ before completing the circumnavigation past good hope and back to the med. I was raised on the water and had a 12 year career in the Superyacht industry with 10 of those years as captain. I currently own a brokerage and yacht refit company in malta so I think I’m quite clued up on yachting.
YET I’m so confused about what boat I think is best for what I want. I’m so drawn to older we’ll built full keel yachts but my wife is insistent on a cat for livability. She also says if we can’t afford a cat I want a Beneteau or jeanneau because they seem homely. I understand where she is coming from because a stable platform of a cat brings such comfort especially when we’d be at anchor most of the time and are not planning on testing the southern ocean apart from South Africa. To be honest I can’t afford a cat at this time and don’t want to wait till I can as the desire to get away from this negative corporate world is my one drive for a happy life! So the options that I have are mass production boat with comforts and space which my wife falls for( as do many people who don’t understand what’s out there) or a solid boat from the 80’s that gives me peace of mind. Whenever I’ve raised a discussion within many forums I always get that Beneteau’s have crossed more oceans than any other brand, yet I just have such doubts about the strength of these boats. I wish I had the cash flow to set myself up with a new solid cruiser but I am not in that position. Another issue is the transom, having a little girl I see it as a necessity from a safe boarding to and from the tender as we head to shore and back. So my point is the more I research the more confused I become. I think it’s time to make a call and see what our choice is like! I’d love your feedback positive or not!
 
GattMLT said:
I’ve been looking at buying a yacht/boat to live aboard with my wife and 2 ½ year old daughter that would take us from the Med, across the Atlantic, cruise the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and onto the Galapagos and across the pacific visiting the many charming island it has on offer with a long stop in NZ before completing the circumnavigation past good hope and back to the med. I was raised on the water and had a 12 year career in the Superyacht industry with 10 of those years as captain. I currently own a brokerage and yacht refit company in malta so I think I’m quite clued up on yachting.
YET I’m so confused about what boat I think is best for what I want. I’m so drawn to older we’ll built full keel yachts but my wife is insistent on a cat for livability. She also says if we can’t afford a cat I want a Beneteau or jeanneau because they seem homely. I understand where she is coming from because a stable platform of a cat brings such comfort especially when we’d be at anchor most of the time and are not planning on testing the southern ocean apart from South Africa. To be honest I can’t afford a cat at this time and don’t want to wait till I can as the desire to get away from this negative corporate world is my one drive for a happy life! So the options that I have are mass production boat with comforts and space which my wife falls for( as do many people who don’t understand what’s out there) or a solid boat from the 80’s that gives me peace of mind. Whenever I’ve raised a discussion within many forums I always get that Beneteau’s have crossed more oceans than any other brand, yet I just have such doubts about the strength of these boats. I wish I had the cash flow to set myself up with a new solid cruiser but I am not in that position. Another issue is the transom, having a little girl I see it as a necessity from a safe boarding to and from the tender as we head to shore and back. So my point is the more I research the more confused I become. I think it’s time to make a call and see what our choice is like! I’d love your feedback positive or not!
Click to expand...

You haven't said anything about size or cost, but the boat that I keep coming across on good value charters is The Sun Odyssey 37. Pretty good value these days, sail well in a blow, tough. Plenty of faster or heavier boats, but I think it's about in the middle of a sweet spot, and the fact they've sold so many of them must point to something. (I think I saw somewhere that it's the best ever selling Jeanneau)
 
GattMLT said:
I’ve been looking at buying a yacht/boat to live aboard with my wife and 2 ½ year old daughter that would take us from the Med, across the Atlantic, cruise the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and onto the Galapagos and across the pacific visiting the many charming island it has on offer with a long stop in NZ before completing the circumnavigation past good hope and back to the med. I was raised on the water and had a 12 year career in the Superyacht industry with 10 of those years as captain. I currently own a brokerage and yacht refit company in malta so I think I’m quite clued up on yachting.
YET I’m so confused about what boat I think is best for what I want. I’m so drawn to older we’ll built full keel yachts but my wife is insistent on a cat for livability. She also says if we can’t afford a cat I want a Beneteau or jeanneau because they seem homely. I understand where she is coming from because a stable platform of a cat brings such comfort especially when we’d be at anchor most of the time and are not planning on testing the southern ocean apart from South Africa. To be honest I can’t afford a cat at this time and don’t want to wait till I can as the desire to get away from this negative corporate world is my one drive for a happy life! So the options that I have are mass production boat with comforts and space which my wife falls for( as do many people who don’t understand what’s out there) or a solid boat from the 80’s that gives me peace of mind. Whenever I’ve raised a discussion within many forums I always get that Beneteau’s have crossed more oceans than any other brand, yet I just have such doubts about the strength of these boats. I wish I had the cash flow to set myself up with a new solid cruiser but I am not in that position. Another issue is the transom, having a little girl I see it as a necessity from a safe boarding to and from the tender as we head to shore and back. So my point is the more I research the more confused I become. I think it’s time to make a call and see what our choice is like! I’d love your feedback positive or not!
Click to expand...
Its all a compromise there is never a perfect yacht, but you are after all very experienced in the area, so, well placed to find "the perfect yacht". all the best in your search
 
Gatt

I did a search on " best affordable older cruising yachts" and it came up with:

Classic Plastic: 10 Affordable Used Sailboats for Cruising

  • Peterson 44. You'll still see the popular center cockpit Peterson 44 ($95,000 – $120,000) plying the waters 30 years after most were launched. ...
  • Liberty 458 and Liberty 49. ...
  • Celestial 48. ...
  • Hans Christian. ...
  • Tayana 37. ...
  • Passport 40. ...
  • Gulfstar 44. ...
  • Norseman 447.
https://www.boats.com/reviews/classic-plastic-10-affordable-used-sailboats-for-cruising/

I don't know them all but seeing Gulfstar 44, Norseman 447 and Hans Christian on the list indicates the desirability of the yachts on the list.

Could you find a prettier blue water yacht than the Hans Christian?
http://bluewaterboats.org/hans-christian-41-traditional/

hanschristian41t-portbow.jpg

Maybe you should sit down with your wife and have a look at yachts on this link? My opinion is that the 1980s yachts a better built and better looking than current yachts which are built to a budget. (I am biased though as I am basing my home-built on a Gulfstar 44)

http://www.mostsailboats.org/1980-gulfstar-44-cc/
 
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I sailed on many privately owned boats doing what you're talking about. Modern plastic boats are scarce in the Pacific compared to the marinas of the med, but there are many solid, well built older boats. Take from that what you will. I'm planning a similar family excursion and chose a 1979 Maxi 120. We're based in Edinburgh and so far thr family has sailed her to Orkney, Sweden, the Scilly Isles and Spain.
 
The argument against lightweights such as Beneteau's is not just one of strength but of comfort at sea. That means the sort of yacht Petec and Roaringgirl are talking about. Yachts that will sail themselves. See for example Ted Brewers' "comfort factor": https://wavetrain.net/2011/10/15/crunching-numbers-brewer-comfort-ratio/.

On a 'milk run' circumnavigation, the passage down to South Africa is notorious but by no means the only one that can be quite hard going. Others include between Tonga and NZ, west-east across the Atlantic, and sometimes the South Pacific convergence zone.

GattMLT, you make it sound like your wife doesn't have experience of ocean sailing. It really would be very desirable for her to get some before you commit. (With your connections, could you arrange this?) Possibly she is the sort of person who would really prefer not to do the passages but to join the yacht at destinations. If you could consider this, and can count on a strong and experienced crew to help, then much of the objection to the sort of yacht she fancies is removed.

P.S. Welcome to the forum. Hope you find it useful. Questions relating to long-distance sailing are probably better placed in the 'Liveaboard' section.
 
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coopec said:
Gatt

I did a search on " best affordable older cruising yachts" and it came up with:

Classic Plastic: 10 Affordable Used Sailboats for Cruising

  • Peterson 44. You'll still see the popular center cockpit Peterson 44 ($95,000 – $120,000) plying the waters 30 years after most were launched. ...
  • Liberty 458 and Liberty 49. ...
  • Celestial 48. ...
  • Hans Christian. ...
  • Tayana 37. ...
  • Passport 40. ...
  • Gulfstar 44. ...
  • Norseman 447.
https://www.boats.com/reviews/classic-plastic-10-affordable-used-sailboats-for-cruising/

I don't know them all but seeing Gulfstar 44, Norseman 447 and Hans Christian on the list indicates the desirability of the yachts on the list.

Could you find a prettier blue water yacht than the Hans Christian?
http://bluewaterboats.org/hans-christian-41-traditional/

View attachment 80655

Maybe you should sit down with your wife and have a look at yachts on this link? My opinion is that the 1980s yachts a better built and better looking than current yachts which are built to a budget. (I am biased though as I am basing my home-built on a Gulfstar 44)

http://www.mostsailboats.org/1980-gulfstar-44-cc/
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They all sound lovely except none of these exist in western Europe! Our US cousins seem to have stolen much of the internet...
 
I have never heard of a catararman doing a cicumnavigation because as far as I know they are not designed to handle heavy weather. The yachts used for that are medium or heavy displacement, for long distance sailing we had heavy.
 
KellysEye said:
I have never heard of a catararman doing a cicumnavigation because as far as I know they are not designed to handle heavy weather. The yachts used for that are medium or heavy displacement, for long distance sailing we had heavy.
Click to expand...

Many multihulls have circumnavigated the globe:
"Henk de Velde; 1997; sailed a catamaran eastbound around the world in 119 days, non-stop. He is still the only person in the world to perform this feat single-handed with a catamaran,[citation needed] although others have made faster single-handed circumnavigations in trimarans

I certainly would not attempt to do it.
 
KellysEye said:
I have never heard of a catararman doing a cicumnavigation because as far as I know they are not designed to handle heavy weather. The yachts used for that are medium or heavy displacement, for long distance sailing we had heavy.
Click to expand...
Many would disagree, starting with Rosie Swale..
To the OP, it sounds like a matter of helping your wife to visualise how comfort at sea is enabled by different factors than comfort on land..as said above, weight means easy motion, and wide open spaces are wasted at best, and dangerous at worst.
Kids like secure little spaces to make as dens at sea, they will naturally colonise corners of the boat which you might not have considered habitable, as I learned from my daughter even pottering around the S.Coast.
I reckon it's more important to have big F/W tanks than acres of real estate.
Let us know how you get on and what you choose ( and what you reject!)
John Kretchmer's book Sailing a Serious Ocean discusses in detail blue water yacht choices, and lists many common options model by model with pros and cons.
 
coopec said:
Many multihulls have circumnavigated the globe:
Click to expand...

You might with advantage read Dr David Lewis' 'Daughters of the Wind' which is the account of his circumnavigation in an early catamaran 'Rehu Moana' with his family, including 2 young daughters.

There are constant trials and tribulations, as well as frequent real danger, for them to overcome. Some would describe the voyage as a 'triumph of the spirit'. Others would be less enchanted.
I ended the book filled with admiration for his wife.
 
Bigger Bavarias fit the bill in most ways. Finding an ex charter boat in the eastern med is very popular with Aussies and New Zealanders who buy them and sail them home.

They have room and are very sturdy plus easy to handle.

You may get a lot of wah wah on here, but not I suspect from those who have sailed them across oceans....:cool:
 
KellysEye said:
I have never heard of a catararman doing a cicumnavigation because as far as I know they are not designed to handle heavy weather. The yachts used for that are medium or heavy displacement, for long distance sailing we had heavy.
Click to expand...

You are badly out of touch. A fair few do it every year and the is one forum user on here that I know who took his around a few years back.
 
If the OP hasn't seen it, it would be worth looking at the YouTube channel "Ruby Rose". There might be a lot of food for thought there, not just on where he's planning to sail but also on monohulls and catamarans.
 
capnsensible said:
Bigger Bavarias fit the bill in most ways. Finding an ex charter boat in the eastern med is very popular with Aussies and New Zealanders who buy them and sail them home.

They have room and are very sturdy plus easy to handle.

You may get a lot of wah wah on here, but not I suspect from those who have sailed them across oceans....:cool:
Click to expand...

One of the problem with this type boat is they are basically designed for chartering. They have an abundance of beds but little in the way of storage. If you are going to circumnavigate then for me, good storage is a must. In addition, they have a tiny battery box. Most liveaboards want more battery capacity. You can always going lithium with the reliable guys like Victron or Mastervolt but at huge expense.
 
geem said:
One of the problem with this type boat is they are basically designed for chartering. They have an abundance of beds but little in the way of storage. If you are going to circumnavigate then for me, good storage is a must. In addition, they have a tiny battery box. Most liveaboards want more battery capacity. You can always going lithium with the reliable guys like Victron or Mastervolt but at huge expense.
Click to expand...

The ones Ive delivered had loadsa storage space plus the load carring capacity for a lot of extra diesel we needed in the Pacific.

Long term, watt @ sea is brill for charging, used the kit on several boats. Recommend it.
 
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